Pirates grow bolder

Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden/Indian Ocean region climbed dramatically over the first six months of the year.
According to figures from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), there were 266 attacks on vessels in the period, compared with 196 last year.

More than 60% were by Somali pirates, the majority of which were in the Arabian Sea area. On 30 June, Somali pirates were holding 20 vessels and 420 crew, demanding ransoms of millions of dollars for their release.

IMB Di¬rector Pottengal Mukundan said: “In the past six months, Somali pirates attacked more vessels than ever before, and they are taking higher risks."

He said pirates had fired on ships for the first time during the monsoon season last month.

Somali pirates took 361 seafarers hostage and kidnapped 13 in the first half of 2011. The number of violent and organ¬ised attacks off West Africa also increased.

The IMB said a major “cause for concern” was the movement of pirates to the Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea, due to monsoon conditions in the Indian Ocean region that began in early June. It said 18 attacks had been reported in the Red Sea area since 20 May.

“It is necessary that shipboard protection measures are in place as vessels sail through this area,” advised Mukundan.

“It may be that these recent Indian Ocean incidents are a sign of desperation by pirates, or that there are many more pirate groups operating now than there were in 2010, particularly outside the Gulf of Aden.”

But although Somali pirates are more active, they managed to hijack fewer ships, just 21 in the first half of 2011 compared with 27 in the same period last year.

The IMB cited tighter security measures as well as the presence of EU naval forces as mitigat¬ing factors in the wake of recent, unsuccessful attacks on merchant vessels.

“It is vital that this naval presence be sustained or increased,” said the IMB.






Source:        IFW